Presentation day for academy pupils

Pupils at a south east Northumberland academy have enjoyed a presentation day for the end of the school year.

Lord Mackay of Clashfern, who retired as Lord Chancellor in 1997, was the guest of honour as Bede Academy in Blyth celebrated its first year as a complete school.

The academy opened in 2009 with children up to Year 9 and has grown as each new year group has joined.

This year’s presentation day was the first where it could confirm its status as an all-through academy with children aged three to 18, culminating in its first set of A-level results this summer.

Lord Mackay currently sits in the House of Lords as Commissary to the University of Cambridge.

He told students: “You have been furnished with extremely good preparation for the future in the shape of education which not only teaches you knowledge and a great deal in the variety of courses but is also education within a Christian framework, and I believe that’s an extremely valuable framework with which to face the future.”

Presented by head boy Joseph Woods and head girl Ashleigh Charlton, the theme of the event was ‘remembering the past, preparing for the future’ and, in the centenary year of the outbreak of the First World War, included a look back at Blyth’s contribution to the war effort.

The theme was reflected in entertainment which included wartime favourites and poignant songs sung by Bede South Choir, the Academy Choir and the Cantata Choir, music by the Academy Orchestra and a vocal solo by Joanna Swainston who sang Tomorrow from the musical Annie.

More than 100 students collected Primary and Secondary Academy prizes for academic, community and extra curricular achievement, and for character in front of family members.